Duggleby and Lethbridge break competition records on way the ECCA 100 wins

Published: 18 Jun 17

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Adam Duggleby.

Adam Duggleby and Alice Lethbridge broke the men’s and women’s national competition records as they powered to victory at the Eastern Counties CA 100-mile time trial in Cambridgeshire on Sunday morning, while GS Metro broke the team competition record too.

Duggleby, the 32-year-old Vive le Velo rider and Paralympic gold medallist, clocked 3:16.51 to take victory on the day by just over two minutes from Richard Bideau (Pendle Forest CC), while just four seconds further back was Peter Harrison (AS Test Team) in third.

All three of those riders went under the old competition record set two years ago by Charles Taylor, while Duggleby’s new record is an impressive 4-40 better.

“I knew the record was beatable, but I didn’t know if it would be me or someone else who beat it,” said Duggleby, who also plans to ride the National 50 and 100. “Bideau beat the old record last season but it was a slightly short course, so I knew he was going well.

“It was a good day today. My pace wasn’t great though, I went out a bit hard and suffered for the last 15-20 miles, my pace dropped off towards the end but I had done enough.”

Alice Lethbridge.

And Epsom-based 32-year-old Lethbridge (Drag2zero) covered the course in 3:42.37 to take 2-45 from Julia Shaw’s seven-year-old record.

“The weather was perfect at the start, although it got a bit too hot for me for the last hour. I was hoping to go under 3-50, so to do the time I did was amazing,” she said.

“I knew what the record was so it was in my mind, but I thought it would’ve taken a perfect day and a perfect ride to go anywhere near, so it’s a big shock to me to beat it by so much.”

GS Metro also set a new national record in the team event. Danny Grieves clocked 3:20.37, Carl Donaldson 3:22.11 and Ben Lane 3:43.22 to give a combined time of 10:26.10 which lowered the old record set last year by Team Bottrill by 16 minutes.

Duggleby has been in blistering form this year, having won the Anfield BC 100 three weeks ago by more than seven minutes from Bideau. He clocked 3:31.08 on that day, prompting many to tip him to add to his list of records.

Grieves will also have his name down in the record books, having broken the old record around eight minutes before Duggleby crossed the line. However, the other riders who broke the old record did so after Duggleby, so their rides will not go down as records.

And there was also a new national age group record set in the event by CC Breckland’s Chris Nudds, the 68-year-old covering the course in 3:57.44.

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